Rebirth

An oft told story
one of rebirth, re-creation,
a new start on life
not by choice, brought about
by a life crisis so drastic
that we can no longer
lay claim to the self
we once were.That person
is wiped out, erased, vanquished
from the earth we inhabit now.
We are re-born without
instructions, no road maps,
no way to figure out which
way to turn, which way to go.
We start and stop many times
until we figure out some way
to be whole, a way that we
can accept, and claim for ourselves.

We always hope. Hope is the building
block that we begin with and then it’s our
choice whether we keep building even
if it’s one incremental block at a time.
Hopefully this creation that did
not come gently from birth
will be something joyful and life
sustaining. Sometimes it’s not;
we all have those examples to
keep us building, keep us from stalling,
those are the best examples.
We never know how the ones
that persevere make a good life for
themselves but those that give up live in
a limbo that scares us enough to keep
us plugging away another day.
Those of us who choose life with joy,
life with substance, life with hope
keep building until we are re-born.

Judy Roney